


Be You

by froggydarren



Category: Teen Wolf (TV) RPF
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Interviews, M/M, Magazine Article
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-23 05:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12499760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/froggydarren
Summary: Amidst the buzz of their upcoming collaboration on a movie produced by their former co-star Colton Haynes, we sat down with Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O'Brien to discuss the project that brought them together for the first time since their days onTeen Wolf.“I’m not quite sure how I got here. Some of the previous years are a blur, because I ran full speed - pun intended - thinking that I had to do everything at the same time." - Dylan O'Brien"I like to think I’m grown up, but I’d hate to become too serious. There’s always a part of me that never will want to be mature. So far, it’s worked." - Tyler HoechlinApril 2024 issue, InMovies magazine





	Be You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ididntwannashipit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ididntwannashipit/gifts).



They’re no longer known primarily by the show that was responsible for at least one of their career launches. It has been years since they portrayed the funny sidekick and the grouchy werewolf, but it’s no longer the thing that gets attached to their names. 

For one of them, the show started the rise up the ranks of the movie industry ladder. Dylan O’Brien, 32, the star of several blockbusters and franchises over the years, is a star in his own right now, his name enough to finance movies and drive audiences to the cinemas across the world. He moves seamlessly between indie movies and ensemble blockbusters, his work recognized not only by the audiences but also by his peers frequently. He has several nominations under his belt already, and another one looming in the near future, if reviews for his latest release are to be believed. 

For the other, the show remains one of the projects most recognized to this day in popular media, but not the only one he’s earned himself praise for, especially in critics’ reviews. Tyler Hoechlin, 36, has recently made the move from the spotlight to behind the camera and into the director’s seat, after years of co-producer credits on projects he helped get off the ground. 

Under the wing of Be yoU Productions and Agency — a company co-launched only a few years earlier, in 2020, by their former co-star Colton Haynes, 35 — Tyler is set to produce the first movie he’ll be directing himself. The movie itself is already creating a buzz due to his and BU’s involvement, and the importance it’s likely to carry in the ongoing dismantling of barriers in the industry — something that Colton is not afraid to voice openly, his own struggles with Hollywood’s restrictions known and on record. 

Working with one former co-star from the  _ Teen Wolf _ days brought attention not only back to their days on the show, but also to the upcoming project. The interest was stirred up even more when Tyler was spotted at BU’s offices with none other than Dylan O’Brien, sparking several rumours. Some were related to the movie itself, bringing up the possibility of Dylan’s involvement in it, others steered in a more personal direction. The former co-stars had not been seen together often since  _ Teen Wolf _ ’s finale, and the sighting caught the interest of their fans almost immediately. 

The news of Dylan’s casting in Tyler’s movie was not a surprise to anyone after that. With the connection revealed, they were spotted together more and more. 

I caught up with both of them at the BU Productions offices, as the pre-production of the movie is starting to ramp up, and their names get mentioned side by side more often. 

Tyler, sitting at his desk with the script in front of him and a red marker in hand, doesn’t miss a beat when asked about his transition from acting to directing. 

“Acting was never my primary aim, it came from not being able to continue with baseball. I love it, I love slipping into a different persona and being someone else while on camera, but it’s not me and that’s what made acting always just a temporary thing. I knew I’d end up elsewhere at some point, and this movie allows me that. It’s new and refreshing now, but it feels like what I wanted to do.”

He doesn’t move away from talking about his career, with the exception of recounting the injury that ended his sports goals. Without prompting, he mentions the projects he was a part of in the past, movies that sparked his interest in the work behind the scenes. He’s unapologetic about his choices, pointing out that “there were decisions I made because they were a stepping stone only, not because I wanted to make them. There are some regrets, looking back now, but they all got me here and I can’t complain about that.”

We move outside with the photographer, and Tyler laughs as he points out that he can still follow directions as he poses for the camera. In the bright sunshine of the autumn afternoon, between shots he talks about growing up here in California, being surrounded by acting since he was little. 

“I was lucky to have a family to keep my feet on the ground. It’s so easy to get swept up by the spotlights, by the glitter. I like to think I’m grown up, but I’d hate to become too serious. There’s always a part of me that never will want to be mature. So far, it’s worked.”

He doesn’t dwell long on the past, though he does talk about the choices he made throughout his career. 

“There was a time when I thought I had to chase the big movies, the red carpets and the shine of it all. It wasn’t really my own wish, but I believed it was what I was supposed to do. In a way, when I fell off the radar somewhat after  _ Teen Wolf _ , it was a wake up call. I was happier doing the smaller projects, the ones that were maybe overlooked by distributors, but ones I could do without feeling like I’m selling out.” 

After a while, he excuses himself to take a call, and he points me to the small studio space at the back of the building, where another photoshoot is in progress. 

The studio has posters of Dylan’s upcoming movie, the one that’s being whispered about with the word “Oscar” as the first reviews are rolling in. He’s in a suit, which rarely happens outside red carpets and photo shoots - he tells me almost immediately that the casual clothes in the latter are usually at his own request. Like Tyler, he talks to me about his career so far between different set ups for the shoot.

“I’m not quite sure how I got here. Some of the previous years are a blur, because I ran full speed - pun intended - thinking that I had to do everything at the same time. The post-accident time was, despite the surgery and pain, good for me. I slowed down some, it helped me sort out my priorities then, and I’ve been more picky about my projects since. I don’t have to do it all, as long as what I do is what I can look back on with pride.”

He talks about balancing the big movies with the small, the lead roles with the smaller ones, the one-man-shows with the ensemble projects. “It’s good to have both. It’s always great to have a team effort, and being the lead on too many things can be... isolating. You’re right there in the forefront of promotion, and you might have back-up, but it’s not the same as when you have a group of people on the same level. I’ve talked about anxiety before, about how crippling it can be, and it’s one of the reasons why I choose projects that don’t put me under a level of pressure that could very easily become too much.” 

I ask about the project for BU, and the importance it’s being given because of the multitude of factors. Dylan shrugs, and smiles softly.

“Some of them are worth it, despite the possible pressure,” he says. 

When the photos are all done, I follow Dylan back to the offices at the front, and find Tyler in one of the conference rooms, back to poring over the script, the red marker in his hand. He only looks up when Dylan stops by his side and pulls it out of his hand, strikes out a note on the margin and scribbles his own, then hands the marker back to Tyler, who smiles and nods in agreement. 

It feels for a moment like I’m invading on a private moment — they immediately fall into a discussion of the phone call Tyler took earlier, and what it means for the production timeline, speaking in a way that makes it unclear if they’re aware of another person in the room. 

They don’t seem surprised when I point out how seamlessly they work together, like they’ve been doing this without the apparent gap between the  _ Teen Wolf _ years and now.

“We have, in a way. It was Dylan who pitched me the idea originally, a script he came across in his former agent’s office that was tossed aside because it had no one behind it yet, no director, no production. It was from the screenwriter directly, and shouldn’t have been there at all. I call it serendipity, Dylan calls it a good plan on the screenwriter’s part.” They both laugh, like it’s an inside joke, and Dylan mumbles something about Irish luck that Tyler rolls his eyes at fondly. 

“We always worked well together, when we did. It’s a pity it took this long to be back on a project together again, but he -” Dylan points at Tyler “-is not even in front of the camera with me. I don’t know how he expects to make this movie aesthetically pleasing without his face on the screen.” 

Tyler doesn’t miss a beat and replies immediately. “That’s what you’re there for, to stand around and look pretty.” 

There’s an ease between them, even with someone else in the room, like it’s really only a personal conversation between them. They talk about the movie, about how the casting went. 

“I know directors usually don’t have all the decision power about it, but I knew I wanted Dylan in the role, and that set up everything else,” Tyler explains.

“He was stubborn. He’s lucky it’s BU Prod that holds the wallet, or he’d never get it off the ground. Colton’s a good friend.” 

“Colton was the one who backed me, he knew as well as I did that you were the right choice.” 

It takes until the very end of the interview to get to the rumors flying around about them, and it’s Dylan who brings it up. Tyler sits back and watches as Dylan talks, eyes on him like he’s looking for signs of anxiety, but Dylan is completely zen. 

“I’ve been such chickenshit about things in the past. Gone along with what my agency told me was the best, let people draw their own conclusions. I’ve made good movie choices, ultimately, career decisions that got me to where I am now, so I can’t say I have regrets about that. But I didn’t make friends where I could have made them. Not that making friends is what this whole business is about. But I know I let my anxiety and my career keep me away from things and people that would’ve been good for me then.” 

It’s then that Tyler reaches over to take Dylan’s hand and give it a squeeze, a gesture that looks too comfortable for two people who are only co-workers and friends. Just like several of the sightings of them prior to this day were more intimate than what director/actor meetings would’ve looked like. 

“I hate the fact that even now, even when it’s not all that big a deal anymore or glorified in the media, there’s still the pressure to come clean. My life… our life is our life, and it’s no one’s business really. Even when our working relationship is business, what happens at the end of the day shouldn’t matter to anyone but us. But I’m tired of the accusations of setting things back, of lurking just on the edge of a closet. I think what I was always most afraid of, with my relationships if I was too public about them was that we’d lose our separate identities. That we would become ‘half of a couple’ instead of just people who happen to be dating. But I know now, seeing friends in solid relationships out in the open and still also having their own spaces, that it doesn’t matter if some people in the world see couples that way. What matters is that we know who we are separately  _ and _ together.” 

“As long as on set you remember that I’m the boss,” Tyler interrupts and all of them laugh, breaking the tension of Dylan’s words. 

“Like hell you are. Don’t forget whose face will be selling the movie.” 

And just like that the seriousness of the moment is over, and they’re back to the easy back-and-forth that only ever comes from a solid connection. They both mention their roles in the upcoming project again, talk about the anticipation of working together in a set-up that they haven’t done before. But their hands stay linked, and there’s one more photo, slightly reminiscent - if a lot toned down - of the  _ Teen Wolf _ promo days: Tyler’s moved from behind his desk to the small couch on the side of the office, and Dylan’s perched on the armrest, his feet up on the cushions. They’re holding hands, looking almost like they’re not even aware of it, but Dylan’s looking at Tyler with a fond expression as he listens to him talking about his vision for the movie. 

It’s all the way at the end, when I’m wrapping up and the photographer has left, that they finally get to that one topic. 

“We don’t want just  _ us _ to be the headline when the time comes. The movie is important in so many different ways, and it matters an awful lot to both of us, to our friends, and hopefully to the people who will be in the audience,” Tyler says.

Dylan picks up from that easily, as he has done through the interview. 

“It was sort of inevitable that it came to this, I told Tyler when he first approached me about working on the movie. I mean, we were lucky in a way to be able to keep most of our private lives away from the media.” 

“Lucky, and it took a lot of work on drawing lines when it came to sharing,” Tyler adds.

“But really, we can’t avoid it now, and I wouldn’t want to, when we’re going to be spending time together on set. I hope it the ‘we’ of it all doesn’t take attention away from the project, but in the end, it’s not in our hands.” 

They explain then why they agreed to do this interview the way it went — as a partially joint one. When the movie’s production picks up, we’ll return to the parts not mentioned here, the ones they want to get their own focus. But they both understand — though they don’t like to give it that much attention — that there is interest in them, in how they came to work together and be together. 

“I just hope we won’t need a break from being together at work  _ and _ at home,” Tyler finishes, laughing when Dylan’s expression turns sour for a beat, then softens again.

And that’s the line that doesn’t leave anything up to interpretation. 

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> [my tumblr](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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